“Sure am.” He ran the razor in a nice long stroke along his skin.
“You’re getting suds in your hair.” I lifted it free where it curled onto his nape. Our gazes clashed in the oval mirror on the wall. “I’m an incredibly helpful cousin.”
He smiled. “My mother used to hold my father’s hair when he shaved, for the exact same reason.”
“You miss them, don’t you?”
“I wish my mother had never died. I was so young, and the memories so few.” He set his razor down and patted his face dry with a towel. “My father though, I’ll see him again, as soon as I’ve freed him.”
My chest tightened, and his pain seared me as if it were my own. “I’m sorry your father is locked away. You have neither of them, and I hold the one item that belonged to your mother.” My throat clogged, but I pushed on and withdrew his mother’s ring from around my neck.
“Don’t.” He shoved up a hand.
“No, you’ve kept your word to her and given it to me, and now it’s my turn to give it back. I never knew your mother, but I’m sure she would have wanted you to have this. I can give it back. It’s mine to do with as I wish.”
A tear pooled in the corner of his eye and trickled down his cheek. “You hold the other half of my soul, and she was right when she told me to give it to you.” He took the necklace and slid it back over my head. “Thank you, but the fact you now have it, means more than if I did.”
“Are you sure? Because I’d give it back to you in a heartbeat.”
“I know you would.” He pressed me against the wall and kissed me, his mouth deliciously warm over mine. All too soon, he pulled away. “I lose track of my thoughts when I’m around you. Let’s get out of here. I’ll show you the areas where you’re permitted, although not without me.”
Striding for the door, he tugged me along. “Guy, no. We’re cousins.”
“Damn. Forgot. No hand-holding, I guess.” He let go and opened the door. “Cousins first.”
I edged into the darkened passageway. Talk about gloomy. Doorways were recessed into textured walls of near black. Wall lighting flickered eerily between every other doorway on alternate sides. “And the place just gets better.”
“Shh.” He shut the door and gripped my shoulder. “Warriors come and go. This is our domain. Always watch what you—”
Three warriors rounded the far corner and stormed toward us. The man at the front of the pack had oily black hair hanging over his shoulders, and he wore a vest of brown leather. Tattoos of fire-breathing dragons curled one over the other on his bare chest and arms, and on a leather belt hanging low on his hips, a roughened metal mallet dangled. Whoa. Daunting.
The man striding beside him was as intimidating, his brown scraggly hair covering one half of his face, and a singular spiked piercing glinted in his visible ear. His biceps bulged as he balled his fists around not one, but two swords at his sides. Okay, why did Faith not give me a sword? Even a dagger right now would be good. Well, I could just kick him with my spiky boots if the warrior made a move.
The two men stopped, eyeing me as a warrior woman walked around them and halted in front. “Who are you?” she demanded.
I cleared my throat but couldn’t find my voice. The woman looked scary. She had one half of her head shaved on either side, giving her a mohawk of bright red. A piece of coiled silver pierced one nostril, and round silver hoops looped through her eyebrows. Along with the tightest of battle leathers, she too had a sword sheathed at her side. Okay, so I had Guy. I slid against him, relishing his closeness.
“I said who are you?”
“Silvie.” I also had the fire skill, and even though I couldn’t use it, I had to toughen up.
“Xrnina, this is my cousin, Silvie Moyer. Silvie, these are three of our leading eight. Xrnina, Killian and Abelard.”
I shivered. The two men, slayers, were the ones who’d soon court Faith and Hope. Yeah, thanks, Faith. Lovely of you to dump this problem on me. “Hey.”
“I’m here. I won’t let anyone hurt you.” Guy’s fingers dug into my shoulder, though his gaze remained on the others. “Silvie is a new recruit, and yet to come into her rising. She’s excited to see what we do, to decide whether being a warrior is for her.”
Killian crossed his arms and planted his feet wide. “Moyer, eh? Is there any possibility she’ll be an enchanter as you are?”
“No. If she had that skill it would already be evident in her eyes. The silver rim foretells the skill to come.”
“Of course. There is only you and your father, but I had hoped. Carry on.” Done with the conversation, the man walked off and the other two followed. They disappeared around the corner.
“How can you stand being around them?” I whispered. “They lead so many teams onto Peacian soil. They kill, and ruthlessly.”
“With the war, there is bloodshed. Both nations fight.”